Because the Weisses’ house was “substantially damaged” during Sandy and had to be razed — and their property is in an area that was flooded — their new home must be constructed according to strict building regulations to guard against possible future floods, FEMA rules state.

The Weisses must drive 36 helical steel pilings nearly 30 feet into the ground. David likened the pilings to “giant crayons with fins” that should hold the house in place in a flood. They must also raise their home six feet. Before the flood, its base was three feet below grade, so when the new home is built, it will be three feet above grade.

The Weisses cannot receive a building permit until the pilings are in the ground. An engineer must oversee the project, at a cost of $1,000 per day. Before they receive a building permit, they will have spent an estimated $50,000 to prepare their property for construction.

Their SBA loan will enable them to get the project started, but they noted that not everyone can afford to take on debt to rebuild, and so many people in their situation have abandoned their homes. “There are horror stories,” Rona said. “You listen to these stories and you just want to cry.

“As bad as it is,” she added, “at least we had a little money and found a place” to rent until the new home is built.

This is one of a number of outrageous stories that are going on all over the south shore of Nassau County. I attended rallys against the "earth movement exclusion" and am cautiously optimistic about the program announced by Governor Cuomo last week. I know the Weiss family, and the Bauer family, whose story was told in the Herald papers weeks ago. The toll taken on these families is unimaginable and it is shocking that the federal government can send billions of dollars overseas to prop up governments in Egypt, Libya and other nations run by people who would destroy America if they had the chance, yet that same government will actively deny American families the relief they need to recover from a catastrophic natural event like Superstorm Sandy.

This should be a wake-up call to elected officials at every level of government that our priorities are terribly out of whack and that reforms are needed to compel thorough oversight of claims handling by banks, insurance companies and FEMA and to hold individuals within these companies/agencies responsible for unnecessary delays and unfair practices in denying homeowners the relief that they paid for.

Your elected officials should be held accountable as well. We don't need phony solutions to problems that look appealing on the surface, yet accomplish nothing in real life. One such example is Legislator Denenberg's "Sandy Bill" which purported to require banks and insurance companies to process Sandy-related claims faster. Unfortunately for homeowners, the bill accomplished nothing other than getting the Legislator some good press. He was and is well aware that Nassau County does not have the jurisdiction to regulate banks and insurance companies, and rather than working with state and federal officials who would have the power to make such changes and actually help affected homeowners, Denenberg introduced a bill that, from the start, had no chance of helping anything other than his own chances at re-election.

I would urge voters and the Herald to look past the image and public persona of elected officials and objectively analyze those candidates whose ideas are actually protecting middle-class families and improving our communities, and those whose record of high taxes, high spending and empty promises are making it harder for the average person to live, work and raise a family here in Nassau County. The issues facing Nassau County are too important to continue to support officials whose primary function is re-election, rather than coming up with real solutions.

I couldn't have said it better. My kids were victims of Sandy and it was awful. What did the Insurance companies do with all the money collected through the years? Someone should be investigating this issue.

Way to go Steve..I,m still not fixed..why? I was told by FEMA mitigation not to . Don't waste my money fixing so we froze last winter ripped out with utility costs that shot up after we did some repairs but didnt get the money to make big changes & Because my damage claim was never evaluated properly in the first place with all the post storm.& it's still a revolving door of no help - help by me,there's so much paperwork Confusion & difficulty getting help unless you knew the right people & got them fast.alot of contractors don't want to take it on it's expensive & if there are problems in the future ,they're on the hook for it,they google my location & I don't even get a call back,so I do whatever damage control I need to to have a roof over our heads & some consistency in our lives,the settlement I finally recieved did not representative of all the damage so my house is still a mess of papers & it's impossible for me to dig thru the proofing.. The insurance co passed it off to national flood ,,wind before water seems to not have been recognized ..the whole system is a confusing , frustrating, frightening, inconsistently based , ego crushing nightmare we still have to pay high taxes to deal with all too frequently,

i was told by FEMA mitigation at cedar creek that the government would fix my house .. just keep throwing out,but the town says I don't have enough damage based on the settlement my lawyer told me to accept. Oh right & I know Bauer s they live close ..pass the now empty lot ..it's .a shame I watched that kid grow up ,his parents moved but he wanted to live here & bought a few doors from the house of his youth..that houses owner walked away from in frustration after being slammed by Irene & sandy,I knew them too & didnt blame those people.not every1 can handle the stress of you need help now but it doesn't come til sometimes it's too late.

The town of hempstead doesn't have a repetitive damage option which means that we' re at the mercy of the insurance companies storm per storm decisions...& , sorry that's not covered,too bad you lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of property..each time,,answers..eat it along with the super high flood insurance rates.

We need and have need repetitive damage inclusion down here, people have sustained first floor flooding for the past few years..watched their value & re salability dwindle in the flood zone."the writing is on the wall..the tides ARE higher.

There's so much paperwork we don't know what to do first & god help I'f you don't have a disaster lawyer, public adjuster or contractor in the family.

keeping the house with a lien on it for 5 years to satisfy a lien on a grant with New York rising is chaining people who are in dire straights already to more years of anguish if they were planning life changes sooner.

I personally have flood nightmares every week,,nocturnal anxiety attacks,,,day ones ,when I look out the window,,,in my dreams ,I see my house if it's risen, with a boat docked under it,,to take out to a main road instead of a car in the no to distant future.. . This is a quality of life issue for many of us as well as a repetitive flood nightmare fight where you live from disaster to disaster ..it's just not a normal way to live.